A Swell Ride

"Are you gonna be okay?" asked Amy once she and Ace were out of the hospital, concerned for both her coltfriend's health, and the fact he wouldn't be able to engage in his favorite hobby for a minimum of two days.

"Yeah, I'll be just fine..." said Ace softly. "I think I'll head on over to Sugarcube Corner."

"Okay. My door is open if you need anything," Amy told him. And with that, she went on her way, unable to think of any reason Ace was so down other than he loved flying and wouldn't be able to do so.

~~~

As for Ace, the bells above the door jingled softly as he entered Sugarcube Corner.

"Hi there, Ace!" Pinkie Pie greeted him from behind the counter. She took a moment to notice his expression. "Is something the matter?"

Ace sighed as he perched his rump on a stool. "Nothing much."

"Acey, I don't need my Pinkie Sense to know when somepony is feeling down. Please be honest with me," said Pinkie, wanting to see what she could do.

Ace looked down. "I was going to give Amy a ride for our anniversary tomorrow, but my wings are injured." He showed her one of his bandaged wings.

"Ouch..." said Pinkie.

"Yeah... ouch," muttered Ace, but referring to a different kind of pain.

"How about a cupcake on the house?" suggested Pinkie, placing a vanilla cupcake with white icing in front of him.

Knowing that Pinkie would keep pestering him until he gave an affirmative response, Ace said, "Sure, that'd be very nice, thanks."

"Great!" replied Pinkie cheerily. "Now how about we go eat it in my secret basement?"

Ace looked up at her, confusion depicted on his features.

A little over-eager to show him the basement, Pinkie grabbed Ace by the hoof and pulled him over the counter.

"What the-?!" Ace managed to get out before he was forced to follow Pinkie into some sort of tunnel.

Down and down they continued to roll through this tunnel of soil, meaning it had been dug underground. Obviously Ace had no idea where they would end up.

After lots and lots of spinning, they landed on wooden floorboards. They were in a room plainly decorated with cream walls.

"This is what I've put together so far," Pinkie told him, leading him closer to the center. "I started today. I hope Mr and Mrs. Cake don't mind when they get back. But anyway, since it's empty, it's the perfect place for you to eat that cupcake!"

Ace blinked at her a few times. "Uh... sure." Given her odd and quirky demeanor, Ace decided he should have expected something like this from Pinkie. He opened his maw and clamped it down, taking a bite out the cupcake and chewing it up before swallowing.

He took a moment to make some noises with his tongue and roof of his mouth, meaning he was tasting it a bit more. "Pretty good," he said with a smile. "It's sorta - huh?" His sentence diverted as he noticed and felt something strange. His belly was slightly bloated, and was getting even more so. Quite a departure from the sturdy and lean figure ideal for Pegasi. "Geez, how many calories are in this?" he asked rhetorically, looking at the cupcake, which he placed back in it's paper wrapper and into his pocket.

Ace poked a hoof at his tummy, expecting it to squish with body fat gained in a ridiculously short period of time. To his surprise, it felt as if there was nothing behind the layer of skin, which dented until Ace removed his hoof, at which point it reformed back. It wasn't fat he was gaining, but some sort of air.

But the unexpected bloatedness did not stop there. Further and further his belly continued to blow up. Just like the shape of a beachball - but not the size.

"Um, Pinkie Pie?" he asked nervously as he got rounder. "What was in that cupcake?"

"Well..."

Pinkie would have continued, but was interrupted by the Pegasus' frightened cries. "Seriously, what's going on?!" Rather than just have a ball of air at Ace's front, his entire body was now becoming round to complement his belly. His neck and back were going outwards rather than inwards, changing shape to better suit that of a ball, and his behind was getting rounder along with them.

Of course, with his natural body structure out of place, this meant his limbs were not as useful. He flailed them about, but that did nothing to help him. His legs were off the ground, and even if he tried to get them back on the surface, his abnormally bloated belly would beat them to it.

His head, limbs, and wings stayed the same size, but the middle section of his body was blowing up further. 'I must be the size of a house in Ponyville now,' he decided.

"Are you turning me into... a balloon?!" he suggested to Pinkie as he grew further.

By now, he was approximately five to six times his normal height. A possibility occured to him: 'Will I end up popping?!' The thought of endng his transformation by getting splattered into hundreds of pieces, unrecognizable and impossible to put back together...

His inflation started to become slower and slower as his skin was stretched out thinner. Was this it? Did this mean he would go *BANG!*, right here and now?

It did not. His expansion simply came to a halt, leaving him in his colossal spherical form, He stared down at Pinkie. "What did you do?!" he cried.

Pinkie twiddled her hooves, looking up at him with an anxious smile. "Well... I was saving that experimental cupcake, but when you came and told me your story, I decided I just had to help you out..."

Ace looked down at himself. "How is this help?!" he yelled.

Pinkie didn't answer. She simply grabbed a light brown object... a basket? Judging by the way it all seemed to be 'threaded' together, that was the first conclusion that popped into Ace's head.

Pinkie placed it under Ace, and started tying the attached ropes to his hind legs.

"You know how you wanted to give Amy a ride in the sky?" said Pinkie. "Well, now you can! If she gets into the basket, you can fly her through the air!"

Ace realized Pinkie's insane idea was right.

"I can turn you back if you'd rather," said Pinkie.

"No, this is good," said Ace, examining his new body. "It's the only way I can give Amethyst a trip through the sky as I planned."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" said Pinkie. She pulled a lever, causing the ceiling to fling upwards like a door. This caused Ace to float upwards. "HELP!!!" he cried, flailing his tiny (in comparison to the rest of his body) limbs around.

Pinkie hopped into the basket and reached under it, pulling a rope attached. She jumped out of the basket, causing her to pull the rope down as far as it would go. This caused Ace to float back down to the ground.

When they landed, Pinkie tied a rope around a handle in the ground, holding Ace down.

"Jeez, why couldn't I have been a safer hot air balloon?" asked Ace.

"Actually, you're not powered by hot air," clarified Pinkie.

"Whatever," retorted Ace. "So... what now?"

"We'll wait for Amethyst to stop by, then off you two go!" said Pinkie. "See ya in the morning!"

"Wait, what? Pinkie!" But Ace's calls were of no use. Pinkie had headed back indoors, leaving Ace outside where everypony could see him.

He sat helpless for what appeared to be hours. Ponies that walked by looked his way, either looking bemused or amused at the sight of a pony inflated and stretched to ridiculous proportions, about as tall as the bell tower, and with a basket beneath him.

Soon enough, a trio of fillies arrived.

"What happened to y'all, mister?" asked a yellow and red one.

"And what's this?" asked a white one, untying the rope from the handle.

"Wait, no! NO!" yelled Ace, but his pleas were in vain. He was floating high up into the air. Everything seemed hopeless for him until he felt himself being tugged downwards. As the yellow filly tied him back down, the white one received a clout around the head from the orange one.

"So what is going on?" the yellow one asked again.

Ace groaned. Being stuck out here in this form had seemed bad enough, but now these children were pestering him to no end. Question after question happened for ages until they went on their way.